Tài liệu e commerce and e business doc

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INTRODUCTION
In the emerging global economy, e-commerce and e-business have increasingly be-
come a necessary component of business strategy and a strong catalyst for eco-
nomic development. The integration of information and communications technology
(ICT) in business has revolutionized relationships within organizations and those be-
tween and among organizations and individuals. Specifically, the use of ICT in busi-
ness has enhanced productivity, encouraged greater customer participation, and ena-
bled mass customization, besides reducing costs.
With developments in the Internet and Web-based technologies, distinctions be-
tween traditional markets and the global electronic marketplace-such as business
capital size, among others-are gradually being narrowed down. The name of the
game is strategic positioning, the ability of a company to determine emerging op-
portunities and utilize the necessary human capital skills (such as intellectual re-
sources) to make the most of these opportunities through an e-business strategy
that is simple, workable and practicable within the context of a global information
milieu and new economic environment. With its effect of leveling the playing field,
e-commerce coupled with the appropriate strategy and policy approach enables
small and medium scale enterprises to compete with large and capital-rich busi-
nesses.
On another plane, developing countries are given increased access to the global
marketplace, where they compete with and complement the more developed econo-
mies. Most, if not all, developing countries are already participating in e-commerce,
either as sellers or buyers. However, to facilitate e-commerce growth in these coun-
tries, the relatively underdeveloped information infrastructure must be improved.
Among the areas for policy intervention are:
● High Internet access costs, including connection service fees, communication
fees, and hosting charges for websites with sufficient bandwidth;
● Limited availability of credit cards and a nationwide credit card system;
● Underdeveloped transportation infrastructure resulting in slow and uncertain
delivery of goods and services;
● Network security problems and insufficient security safeguards;
● Lack of skilled human resources and key technologies (i.e., inadequate profes-
sional IT workforce);
● Content restriction on national security and other public policy grounds, which
greatly affect business in the field of information services, such as the media
and entertainment sectors;
● Cross-border issues, such as the recognition of transactions under laws of other
ASEAN member-countries, certification services, improvement of delivery meth-
ods and customs facilitation; and
● The relatively low cost of labor, which implies that a shift to a comparatively
capital intensive solution (including investments on the improvement of the physi-
cal and network infrastructure) is not apparent.
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It is recognized that in the Information Age, Internet commerce is a powerful tool in
the economic growth of developing countries. While there are indications of e-
commerce patronage among large firms in developing countries, there seems to
be little and negligible use of the Internet for commerce among small and medium
sized firms. E-commerce promises better business for SMEs and sustainable eco-
nomic development for developing countries. However, this is premised on strong
political will and good governance, as well as on a responsible and supportive
private sector within an effective policy framework. This primer seeks to provide policy
guidelines toward this end.
I. CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS
What is e-commerce?
Electronic commerce or e-commerce refers to a wide range of online business activi-
ties for products and services.
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It also pertains to “any form of business transaction in
which the parties interact electronically rather than by physical exchanges or direct
physical contact.”
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E-commerce is usually associated with buying and selling over the Internet, or con-
ducting any transaction involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods or
services through a computer-mediated network.
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Though popular, this definition is
not comprehensive enough to capture recent developments in this new and revolu-
tionary business phenomenon. A more complete definition is: E-commerce is the
use of electronic communications and digital information processing technology in
business transactions to create, transform, and redefine relationships for value crea-
tion between or among organizations, and between organizations and individuals.
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International Data Corp (IDC) estimates the value of global e-commerce in 2000 at
US$350.38 billion. This is projected to climb to as high as US$3.14 trillion by 2004.
IDC also predicts an increase in Asia’s percentage share in worldwide e-commerce
revenue from 5% in 2000 to 10% in 2004 (See Figure 1).
Figure 1. Worldwide E-Commerce Revenue, 2000 &2004
(as a % share of each country/region)
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Asia-Pacific e-commerce revenues are projected to increase from $76.8 billion at
year-end of 2001 to $338.5 billion by the end of 2004.
Is e-commerce the same as e-business?
While some use e-commerce and e-business interchangeably, they are distinct con-
cepts. In e-commerce, information and communications technology (ICT) is used in
inter-business or inter-organizational transactions (transactions between and among
firms/organizations) and in business-to-consumer transactions (transactions between
firms/organizations and individuals).
In e-business, on the other hand, ICT is used to enhance one’s business. It in-
cludes any process that a business organization (either a for-profit, governmental
or non-profit entity) conducts over a computer-mediated network. A more comprehen-
sive definition of e-business is: “The transformation of an organization’s processes to
deliver additional customer value through the application of technologies, philoso-
phies and computing paradigm of the new economy.”
Three primary processes are enhanced in e-business:
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1. Production processes, which include procurement, ordering and replenish-
ment of stocks; processing of payments; electronic links with suppliers; and
production control processes, among others;
2. Customer-focused processes, which include promotional and marketing ef-
forts, selling over the Internet, processing of customers’ purchase orders and
payments, and customer support, among others; and
3. Internal management processes, which include employee services, train-
ing, internal information-sharing, video-conferencing, and recruiting. Electronic
applications enhance information flow between production and sales forces
to improve sales force productivity. Workgroup communications and elec-
tronic publishing of internal business information are likewise made more
efficient.
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Is the Internet economy synonymous with e-commerce and e-business?
The Internet economy is a broader concept than e-commerce and e-business. It
includes e-commerce and e-business.
The Internet economy pertains to all economic activities using electronic networks
as a medium for commerce or those activities involved in both building the net-
works linked to the Internet and the purchase of application services
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such as the
provision of enabling hardware and software and network equipment for Web-based/
online retail and shopping malls (or “e-malls”). It is made up of three major segments:
physical (ICT) infrastructure, business infrastructure, and commerce.
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The CREC (Center for Research and Electronic Commerce) at the University of Texas
has developed a conceptual framework for how the Internet economy works. The
framework shows four layers of the Internet economy-the three mentioned above and
a fourth called intermediaries (see Table 1).
Table 1. Internet Economy Conceptual Frame
Internet Layer 1 - Internet Layer 2 - Layer 3 - Layer 4 - Internet
Economy Infrastructure: Internet Internet Commerce:
Layer Companies that Applications Intermediaries: Companies that
provide the Infrastructure: Companies sell products or
enabling hardware, Companies that link e- services directly
software, and that make commerce to consumers or
networking software buyers and businesses.
equipment for products that sellers;
Internet and for the facilitate Web companies that
World Wide Web transactions; provide Web
companies content;
that provide companies that
Web provide
development marketplaces
design and in which e-
consulting commerce
services transactions
can occur
Types of Networking Internet Market Makers E-Tailers
Companies Hardware/Software Commerce in Vertical Online
Companies Applications Industries Entertainment
Line Acceleration Web Online Travel and Professional
Hardware Development Agents Services
Manufacturers Software Online Manufacturers
PC and Server Internet Brokerages Selling Online
Manufacturers Consultants Content Airlines Selling
Internet Backbone Online Aggregators Online Tickets
ProvidersTraining Online Fee/Subscription-
Internet Service Search Advertisers Based
Providers (ISPs) Engine Internet Ad Companies
Security Vendors Software Brokers
Fiber Optics Web-Enabled Portals/Content
Makers Databases Providers
Multimedia
Applications
Examples Cisco Adobe e-STEEL Amazon.com
AOL *Microsoft Travelocity e- Dell
AT&T *IBM Trade
Qwest Oracle Yahoo!
ZDNet
Based on Center for Research in Electronic Commerce, University of Texas, “Measuring the Internet Economy”, June
6, 2000; available from www.Internetindicators.com.
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What are the different types of e-commerce?
The major different types of e-commerce are: business-to-business (B2B); business-
to-consumer (B2C); business-to-government (B2G); consumer-to-consumer (C2C);
and mobile commerce (m-commerce).
What is B2B e-commerce?
B2B e-commerce is simply defined as e-commerce between companies. This is the
type of e-commerce that deals with relationships between and among businesses.
About 80% of e-commerce is of this type, and most experts predict that B2B e-
commerce will continue to grow faster than the B2C segment.
The B2B market has two primary components: e-frastructure and e-markets. E-
frastructure is the architecture of B2B, primarily consisting of the following:
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● logistics - transportation, warehousing and distribution (e.g., Procter and Gam-
ble);
● application service providers - deployment, hosting and management of pack-
aged software from a central facility (e.g., Oracle and Linkshare);
● outsourcing of functions in the process of e-commerce, such as Web-hosting,
security and customer care solutions (e.g., outsourcing providers such as
eShare, NetSales, iXL Enterprises and Universal Access);
● auction solutions software for the operation and maintenance of real-time auc-
tions in the Internet (e.g., Moai Technologies and OpenSite Technologies);
● content management software for the facilitation of Web site content manage-
ment and delivery (e.g., Interwoven and ProcureNet); and
● Web-based commerce enablers (e.g., Commerce One, a browser-based, XML-
enabled purchasing automation software).
E-markets are simply defined as Web sites where buyers and sellers interact with
each other and conduct transactions.
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The more common B2B examples and best practice models are IBM, Hewlett
Packard (HP), Cisco and Dell. Cisco, for instance, receives over 90% of its product
orders over the Internet.
Most B2B applications are in the areas of supplier management (especially pur-
chase order processing), inventory management (i.e., managing order-ship-bill
cycles), distribution management (especially in the transmission of shipping docu-
ments), channel management (i.e., information dissemination on changes in op-
erational conditions), and payment management (e.g., electronic payment sys-
tems or EPS).
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eMarketer projects an increase in the share of B2B e-commerce in total global e-
commerce from 79.2% in 2000 to 87% in 2004 and a consequent decrease in the
share of B2C e-commerce from 20.8% in 2000 to only 13% in 2004 (Figure 2).
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Likewise B2B growth is way ahead of B2C growth in the Asia-Pacific region. Accord-
ing to a 2001 eMarketer estimate, B2B revenues in the region are expected to exceed
$300 billion by 2004.
Table 2 shows the projected size of B2B e-commerce by region for the years 2000-
2004.
Table 2. Projected B2B E-Commerce by Region, 2000-2004 ($billions)
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 As a % of
worldwide
B2B
commerce,
2004
North America 159.2 316.8 563.9 964.3 1,600.8 57.7
Asia/Pacific Rim 36.2 68.6 121.2 199.3 300.6 10.8
Europe 26.2 52.4 132.7 334.1 797.3 28.7
Latin America 2.9 7.9 17.4 33.6 58.4 2.1
Africa/Middle East 1.7 3.2 5.9 10.6 17.7 0.6
TOTAL 226.2 448.9 841.1 1,541.9 2,774.8 100.0
Box 1. Benefits of B2B E-Commerce in Developing Markets
The impact of B2B markets on the economy of developing countries is evident in the following:
Transaction costs. There are three cost areas that are significantly reduced through the
conduct of B2B e-commerce. First is the reduction of search costs, as buyers need not go
through multiple intermediaries to search for information about suppliers, products and
prices as in a traditional supply chain. In terms of effort, time and money spent, the Internet
is a more efficient information channel than its traditional counterpart. In B2B markets,
buyers and sellers are gathered together into a single online trading community, reducing
Year 2000 Year 2004
Figure 2. Share of B2B and B2C E-Commerce in Total Global E-Commerce
(2000 and 2004)
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search costs even further. Second is the reduction in the costs of processing transactions
(e.g. invoices, purchase orders and payment schemes), as B2B allows for the automation
of transaction processes and therefore, the quick implementation of the same compared to
other channels (such as the telephone and fax). Efficiency in trading processes and trans-
actions is also enhanced through the B2B e-market’s ability to process sales through online
auctions. Third, online processing improves inventory management and logistics.
Disintermediation. Through B2B e-markets, suppliers are able to interact and transact
directly with buyers, thereby eliminating intermediaries and distributors. However, new
forms of intermediaries are emerging. For instance, e-markets themselves can be consid-
ered as intermediaries because they come between suppliers and customers in the
supply chain.
Transparency in pricing. Among the more evident benefits of e-markets is the increase in
price transparency. The gathering of a large number of buyers and sellers in a single e-market
reveals market price information and transaction processing to participants. The Internet
allows for the publication of information on a single purchase or transaction, making the
information readily accessible and available to all members of the e-market. Increased price
transparency has the effect of pulling down price differentials in the market. In this context,
buyers are provided much more time to compare prices and make better buying decisions.
Moreover, B2B e-markets expand borders for dynamic and negotiated pricing wherein multiple
buyers and sellers collectively participate in price-setting and two-way auctions. In such
environments, prices can be set through automatic matching of bids and offers. In the e-
marketplace, the requirements of both buyers and sellers are thus aggregated to reach
competitive prices, which are lower than those resulting from individual actions.
Economies of scale and network effects. The rapid growth of B2B e-markets creates
traditional supply-side cost-based economies of scale. Furthermore, the bringing together
of a significant number of buyers and sellers provides the demand-side economies of scale
or network effects. Each additional incremental participant in the e-market creates value for
all participants in the demand side. More participants form a critical mass, which is key in
attracting more users to an e-market.
What is B2C e-commerce?
Business-to-consumer e-commerce, or commerce between companies and consum-
ers, involves customers gathering information; purchasing physical goods (i.e., tangi-
bles such as books or consumer products) or information goods (or goods of elec-
tronic material or digitized content, such as software, or e-books); and, for informa-
tion goods, receiving products over an electronic network.
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It is the second largest and the earliest form of e-commerce. Its origins can be
traced to online retailing (or e-tailing).
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Thus, the more common B2C business
models are the online retailing companies such as Amazon.com, Drugstore.com,
Beyond.com, Barnes and Noble and ToysRus. Other B2C examples involving in-
formation goods are E-Trade and Travelocity.
The more common applications of this type of e-commerce are in the areas of
purchasing products and information, and personal finance management, which
pertains to the management of personal investments and finances with the use of
online banking tools (e.g., Quicken).
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eMarketer estimates that worldwide B2C e-commerce revenues will increase from
US$59.7 billion in 2000 to US$428.1 billion by 2004. Online retailing transactions
make up a significant share of this market. eMarketer also estimates that in the Asia-
Pacific region, B2C revenues, while registering a modest figure compared to B2B,
nonetheless went up to $8.2 billion by the end of 2001, with that figure doubling at the
end of 2002-at total worldwide B2C sales below 10%.
B2C e-commerce reduces transactions costs (particularly search costs) by increasing
consumer access to information and allowing consumers to find the most competitive
price for a product or service. B2C e-commerce also reduces market entry barriers since
the cost of putting up and maintaining a Web site is much cheaper than installing a
“brick-and-mortar” structure for a firm. In the case of information goods, B2C e-com-
merce is even more attractive because it saves firms from factoring in the additional cost
of a physical distribution network. Moreover, for countries with a growing and robust
Internet population, delivering information goods becomes increasingly feasible.
What is B2G e-commerce?
Business-to-government e-commerce or B2G is generally defined as commerce be-
tween companies and the public sector. It refers to the use of the Internet for public
procurement, licensing procedures, and other government-related operations. This kind
of e-commerce has two features: first, the public sector assumes a pilot/leading role in
establishing e-commerce; and second, it is assumed that the public sector has the
greatest need for making its procurement system more effective.
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Web-based purchasing policies increase the transparency of the procurement proc-
ess (and reduces the risk of irregularities). To date, however, the size of the B2G e-
commerce market as a component of total e-commerce is insignificant, as govern-
ment e-procurement systems remain undeveloped.
What is C2C e-commerce?
Consumer-to-consumer e-commerce or C2C is simply commerce between private
individuals or consumers.
This type of e-commerce is characterized by the growth of electronic marketplaces
and online auctions, particularly in vertical industries where firms/businesses can
bid for what they want from among multiple suppliers.
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It perhaps has the greatest
potential for developing new markets.
This type of e-commerce comes in at least three forms:
● auctions facilitated at a portal, such as eBay, which allows online real-time bid-
ding on items being sold in the Web;
● peer-to-peer systems, such as the Napster model (a protocol for sharing files
between users used by chat forums similar to IRC) and other file exchange and
later money exchange models; and
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● classified ads at portal sites such as Excite Classifieds and eWanted (an inter-
active, online marketplace where buyers and sellers can negotiate and which
features “Buyer Leads & Want Ads”).
Consumer-to-business (C2B) transactions involve reverse auctions, which empower
the consumer to drive transactions. A concrete example of this when competing
airlines gives a traveler best travel and ticket offers in response to the traveler’s
post that she wants to fly from New York to San Francisco.
There is little information on the relative size of global C2C e-commerce. However,
C2C figures of popular C2C sites such as eBay and Napster indicate that this mar-
ket is quite large. These sites produce millions of dollars in sales every day.
What is m-commerce?
M-commerce (mobile commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services
through wireless technology-i.e., handheld devices such as cellular telephones and
personal digital assistants (PDAs). Japan is seen as a global leader in m-com-
merce.
As content delivery over wireless devices becomes faster, more secure, and scal-
able, some believe that m-commerce will surpass wireline e-commerce as the
method of choice for digital commerce transactions. This may well be true for the
Asia-Pacific where there are more mobile phone users than there are Internet us-
ers.
Industries affected by m-commerce include:
● Financial services, including mobile banking (when customers use their
handheld devices to access their accounts and pay their bills), as well as bro-
kerage services (in which stock quotes can be displayed and trading conducted
from the same handheld device);
● Telecommunications, in which service changes, bill payment and account
reviews can all be conducted from the same handheld device;
● Service/retail, as consumers are given the ability to place and pay for orders
on-the-fly; and
● Information services, which include the delivery of entertainment, financial
news, sports figures and traffic updates to a single mobile device.
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Forrester Research predicts US$3.4 billion sales closed using PDA and cell phones
by 2005 (See Table 3).
What forces are fueling e-commerce?
There are at least three major forces fuelling e-commerce: economic forces, market-
ing and customer interaction forces, and technology, particularly multimedia conver-
gence.
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Table 3. Forrester’s M-Commerce Sales Predictions, 2001-2005
Device 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Sales closed on devices (in billions)
PDA 0.0 0.1 0.5 1.4 3.1
Cell phone 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3
Sales influenced by devices (in billions)
PDA 1.0 5.6 14.4 20.7 24.0
Cell Phone 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3 1.3
Economic forces. One of the most evident benefits of e-commerce is economic
efficiency resulting from the reduction in communications costs, low-cost techno-
logical infrastructure, speedier and more economic electronic transactions with sup-
pliers, lower global information sharing and advertising costs, and cheaper cus-
tomer service alternatives.
Economic integration is either external or internal. External integration refers to the
electronic networking of corporations, suppliers, customers/clients, and independ-
ent contractors into one community communicating in a virtual environment (with
the Internet as medium). Internal integration, on the other hand, is the networking
of the various departments within a corporation, and of business operations and
processes. This allows critical business information to be stored in a digital form
that can be retrieved instantly and transmitted electronically. Internal integration is
best exemplified by corporate intranets. Among the companies with efficient corpo-
rate intranets are Procter and Gamble, IBM, Nestle and Intel.
Box 2. SESAMi.NET.: Linking Asian Markets through B2B Hubs
SESAMi.NET is Asia’s largest B2B e-hub, a virtual exchange integrating and connecting
businesses (small, medium or large) to trading partners, e-marketplaces and internal enter-
prise systems for the purpose of sourcing out supplies, buying and selling goods and
services online in real time. The e-hub serves as the center for management of content and
the processing of business transactions with support services such as financial clearance
and information services.
It is strategically and dynamically linked to the Global Trading Web (GTW), the world’s largest
network of trading communities on the Internet. Because of this very important link, SESAMi
reaches an extensive network of regional, vertical and industry-specific interoperable B2B
e-markets across the globe.
Market forces. Corporations are encouraged to use e-commerce in marketing and
promotion to capture international markets, both big and small. The Internet is like-
wise used as a medium for enhanced customer service and support. It is a lot
easier for companies to provide their target consumers with more detailed product
and service information using the Internet.